The puzzle
by sweetlittlecherry
Summary: Itachi has the habit to do a puzzle every month but he wants to finish it on his own and his only priority is finishing the puzzle. Everyone knows that they shouldn't mess up the puzzle otherwise VERY bad things happen.


Sitting at the desk in Kisame's and his room, Itachi was trying to piece together a 1000 piece puzzle

Sitting at the desk in Kisame's and his room, Itachi was trying to piece together a 1000 piece puzzle. The resulting image was supposed to be a shark but right now, it just looked like a jumbled up mess. He only had a few pieces together and was having trouble finding the right ones. After getting a corner with only 20 pieces in it, he took a break, giving his mind a rest. Going out of the room to get a drink, Kisame was going to enter the room. Itachi politely pushed him out and dragged him with him. "You're not going to mess it up." Itachi said. Kisame sighed; he knew exactly what Itachi was doing.

Itachi had gotten into the habit of trying to piece together a puzzle every month since things at the hideout had been getting really boring. Things hadn't been progressing with the capturing of jinchuurikis.

When he got into the kitchen, Kisame leaned against the counter as Itachi got out a bottle of water from the fridge. "What's the puzzle for this month?" Kisame asked, interested in the subject.

"It's a shark." Itachi replied, then took a sip of his water.

"Well don't kill it, I know how pissed you get if you don't get things to go your way." Kisame chuckled.

"Hn." Itachi said, leaving the kitchen. Kisame followed behind.

"Are you sure you don't need any help with the puzzle?" Kisame asked. Itachi stopped and glared at him.

"No." Itachi said, eyes throwing daggers at him. Itachi knew that Kisame was the fastest person to complete any puzzle. He understood everything and it just made Itachi frustrated thinking about it. He didn't need help. Not from him anyway.

Ending the glaring session with Kisame, Itachi turned and continued to walk, taking another sip of his water. When he got to their room, he allowed Kisame to come in but he was not allowed to even look at the puzzle. So, seeing that he was banned to look at the desk, he lied on the bed. Itachi set his water down on the nightstand and sat at the desk. "They're really easy y'know." Kisame teased. Itachi glared at Kisame again. Kisame smiled, getting enjoyment from irritating the Uchiha.

Itachi, after about twenty minutes, began to piece the pieces together a bit faster. He started to get a hang of it until it happened: Tobi burst through their door and slammed it so hard that even the puzzle pieces on the table jumped. "Sempai's trying to kill Tobi so Tobi have to stay in here." From inside they heard the curses coming from Deidara on the other side of the door. Itachi sighed, closed his eyes, and rested his head in his hand.

Tobi skipped over to Itachi and looked at what he was working on. "Oooh! A puzzle! Tobi loves puzzles!!" Tobi said cheerily. Itachi jumped, he didn't hear the nuisance creep up behind him. Itachi quickly pushed him away.

"He doesn't want anyone to interrupt him and his puzzle." Kisame said, not meaning for it to come out like he was mocking Itachi but Itachi took it as a way to tease him so he glared at Kisame again. Kisame looked over at Itachi and rolled his eyes.

"Itachi! Tobi wants to help you finish the puzzle!" Tobi cried. Itachi shifted his glare at Tobi. Suddenly the door was hit open, falling off its hinges. Tobi jumped and then quickly ran out.

"COME BACK HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Deidara's voice trailed off as he chased after Tobi. Kisame was laughing on the bed but Itachi was just annoyed. Now not only had he been interrupted with completing his puzzle but now he had to go and explain to Kakuzu how the door got broken down and give him all the other info he needed to know. Itachi let out a long sigh.

"Itachi, you can go tell Kakuzu, I'll stay behind and watch the puzzle for you." He was beginning to get smart mouthed and Itachi didn't like it. Itachi got up from his chair, walked to the bed and literally kicked Kisame out of it. "Alright! I'll go. But you know I could finish that puzzle if you—" Kisame didn't even get the words out for Itachi had kicked him out of the room. He would've slammed the door in his face but, oh, right. No door anymore. Kisame smirked as he looked up at Itachi. Itachi was about to kick him again if he said anything.

Kisame didn't say a word and just got up off of the floor and walked towards Kakuzu's room to tell him about the incident.

Itachi sat back down at the desk. Finally he was alone. The puzzle was almost half way done so it made him happy. Well, he was happy until something happened. Zetsu popped up from **under the desk** to surprise him. The desk jumped up and the puzzle pieces slid towards Itachi. Every single thing that he had done was ruined. He clenched his fist and Zetsu went back down into the floor. He popped up behind him and picked up a puzzle piece. "Puzzles again Itachi?" He asked.

Itachi didn't even say anything, he wanted to kill him. "Out." Itachi said, glowering at Zetsu. Zetsu left but he left with the puzzle piece in his hand. Before Itachi could even say anything, Zetsu went down into the floor to somewhere Itachi didn't know. Silently he cursed.

"Well Kakuzu will be buying a new door but we'll have to wait a . . . Are you okay Itachi?" Kisame said, getting back from talking with Kakuzu. Itachi didn't even look at Kisame; he just bent down and began to pick up the pieces. "I could help you pick them up if you want." Kisame suggested.

"No." Itachi resumed picking the pieces up. After gathering them all he counted them. He only counted 998 pieces which meant that not only did Zetsu have one but so did someone else. He glared at Kisame who was confused.

"What?"

"You took one of the pieces didn't you?"

"Why, are you missing one?"

"Obviously otherwise I wouldn't be asking in the first place."

"I don't know. I haven't touched one yet."

Itachi kept his glare steady. Kisame was unfazed so Itachi stopped. "Could you do me a favor?" Itachi asked. Kisame shrugged.

"Maybe. What do you want me to do?"

"Get the puzzle piece from Zetsu." Itachi sat back down at his desk to restart piecing the puzzle together. Kisame stared at Itachi. "What?"

"You just accused me of taking the piece and yet you knew Zetsu had it."

"I'm missing two. I asked if you had the other one. If I was only missing one, I wouldn't need to ask if you had it." There was a long sigh from the other side of the room then footsteps that grew quieter as they went which meant Kisame had decided to do what he asked. Itachi rested his head in his hand as the other moved pieces together and thought. Who could have the other piece?

It was a long time before Kisame got back. Unfortunately, Zetsu was nowhere to be found. Itachi sighed, with two missing pieces he didn't know if he could do it. While staring down at his puzzle, busy in thought, he didn't notice Kisame come up behind him. "That piece farthest from you and the one by your elbow go together." Kisame said. Itachi spun around on his chair and went to hit Kisame but missed and ended up spinning around on the chair and hitting the table which knocked down more pieces. "Smooth." Kisame snickered. Itachi grimaced and then began to pick up the pieces.

A week passed and Itachi finally got the whole thing done but two pieces were still missing. That day when Itachi went to go get something to eat he spotted his target, Zetsu.

"Hey Itachi." Zetsu greeted as he walked by. Itachi waved.

"Hey wait a second Zetsu."

Zetsu turned around and then was trapped in Itachi's genjutsu. Itachi was holding weed killer in his hand. "Where's my puzzle piece?"

"Still going on about that," Zetsu asked then sighed, "I don't know where it is." Itachi sprayed him and Zetsu began to freak out.

"The longer you take to tell me, the more you get sprayed with this stuff. I've got all the time in the world. Believe me; I could make this the longest 72 hours of your life." Itachi threatened. Zetsu panicked.

After what was actually a second in the real world, Zetsu fell to the ground. Itachi wasn't satisfied, not one bit. Tobi had taken the piece from him. Deidara was lucky so he got a mission and that meant Tobi was alone and he wasn't going to fool around. Itachi shuddered. Maybe getting the piece wasn't worth it.

After much debate, Itachi decided to just try to get the piece from Tobi. He was serious enough to use the tsukuyomi on Zetsu so he might as well go through this.

Itachi slowly opened the door and called, "Tobi . . ." Walking in, he shut the door so he wouldn't make a sound. He knew he was in here, he never usually came out. There, seated on a chair, was Tobi, reading a book.

"What is it Itachi?" Tobi asked. Itachi sighed in his mind. Why couldn't he act like Tobi right now instead of Madara?

"I came to get my puzzle piece." Itachi said. Tobi- no, Madara set the book down and walked to Itachi. He pulled the piece out of his pocket.

"This one?" He asked. Itachi nodded. Madara shook his head. "I'm not going to give it to you. Well, not easily anyways. We will fight. You win, you get the piece. I win, and I get to keep the piece forever." Madara smirked from behind his mask. _I don't feel like fighting! I have less power because I just used tsukuyomi_, Itachi thought, anguished.

Before Itachi could respond, the door behind them opened. Itachi turned and sighed in relief. It was Kisame. Now Madara would have to go back to being Tobi. "Pein wants to see you Tobi." Kisame said. Tobi jumped.

"Yay!! Tobi has been a good boy and now he gets to see the leader!" Tobi skipped out of the room. Kisame kept the door open.

"Are you going to stay in here or are you coming?" Kisame asked. Itachi nodded and then left the accursed room. He hated talking to Madara, he really did. Kisame looked down at Itachi. "You have less chakra, what happened?" Kisame asked. Itachi just kept on walking.

"Zetsu." Itachi said. Kisame's eyebrows rose as he remembered passing a very paranoid Zetsu earlier.

Kisame and Itachi got back to their room and shut their newly installed door. Both lied on the bed. "Aren't you going to finish your puzzle?" Kisame asked, looking over at his partner. Itachi sighed.

"I don't have any more pieces."

"Didn't get the one from Zetsu, eh?"

"Hn." Itachi shut his eyes to take a short nap. The puzzle piece could wait, he felt exhausted.

When Itachi woke up about an hour later, Kisame was gone. He sat up and yawned. Looking over to the table, he noticed something different. There was only one space in the puzzle. Either the bane of evil decided to skip on the battle and just put the piece there or the mystery person came and wanted to return it to avoid confrontation. Either way, he was one piece closer to finishing the puzzle.

Itachi got out of bed and decided to take a walk around the hideout. On his stroll, he met up with Kisame. "Kisame, who came into the room while I was asleep?" He asked. Kisame took a second to recall who.

"Tobi did. He wanted to be a 'good boy' and help his dear friend so he put one of those puzzle pieces onto your puzzle." Kisame answered dully. Itachi nodded his head. "I guess all you need to do now is get the last piece from Zetsu then you'll be all done." Itachi shook his head.

"The piece that Tobi had was the one that Zetsu stole from me. So that means the mystery person still has the piece within their possession."

"Better get it before the month ends."

"I will even if I have to take it from them by force" Itachi stated. Kisame put a hand on Itachi's shoulder.

"It's just a puzzle piece."

Itachi shrugged off his hand and began to walk away. "But it's a puzzle piece I need." He said as he passed Kisame. Kisame sighed.

After looking throughout the whole hideout, observing everyone and even starting a small conversation, Itachi went back to his and Kisame's room. Kisame was lying on the bed, looking up at the ceiling, so Itachi sat on his abdomen. "I can't find it."

"You're probably going to need patience . . . and to get off of me." Kisame said. Itachi got off and lied next to him and Kisame lied on his side to talk to Itachi. "You could have just misplaced it." Kisame said, twirling some of Itachi's hair around his fingers.

"I don't misplace things."

"Well the puzzle pieces were knocked down on the floor a lot of times; it could be wedged in some place." Itachi turned to him.

"I'm not an idiot; I checked all the possible places."

"Did you?"

"Yes." Itachi replied, annoyed. Kisame began to laugh.

"You're going to have to look harder little weasel." Kisame teased. Itachi gave him the worst glare he could.

"You hid it?" He hissed. Kisame smirked.

"I may have."

"Where is it?" Itachi asked, clenching Kisame's cloak collar tightly, holding back the urge to hit him.

"Don't know. Someone could have moved it." Kisame said in a mocking tone.

"Kisame, I am not afraid to use tsukuyomi on you."

"Hey, don't be so drastic."

"I used tsukuyomi on Zetsu earlier."

". . . Fine then. Take off your headband." Kisame sighed. Itachi did as he said and onto the bed fell the piece.

". . . You hid it . . . under my headband . . .? But . . . I've taken off my headband many times within the past week."

"You did fall asleep earlier today . . ."

Itachi sighed heavily, picked up the piece and went to his puzzle. He put the piece into the right spot and at last he was finished. "Oi, can I look at it now?" Kisame asked.

"Yes." Itachi said, feeling accomplished. Kisame got off of the bed and looked at the puzzle. Kisame stared at some of the pieces that were obviously jammed into place by Itachi because he got frustrated. He was going to say something but for fear of getting his brain fried, he didn't. Itachi sighed. "It wasn't what I thought it would be."

"Well, you should have put the pieces where they actually should have been." Kisame teased. When he noticed that he had said it out loud, Itachi had already turned to him. Kisame quickly shut his eyes but it was too late.

Kisame was standing in the middle of nowhere and directly in front of him stood an irritated Uchiha. "I-Itachi! I was j-just kidding! It looked perfect! I didn't see one flaw at all!" Kisame said nervously, trying to take a step back but couldn't.

Itachi held up a box and showed the front of it to Kisame. "This is a puzzle. Do you know what this one is?"

"Um . . . butterfly's?" Kisame replied, scared. Itachi smirked.

"No, if I piece it together," Itachi said, opening the box and taking out a piece, "it'll be your death." Kisame's eyes widened.

"I-Itachi."

Itachi threw the piece at Kisame and Kisame almost laughed and probably would have laughed if when the little piece of doom didn't cut him so deep when it attached to him. "Let's see how it looks when I get done." Itachi sneered, taking out another piece. Kisame looked at where the piece had attached itself to him and it was like a piece of flesh was gone. Kisame shuddered as he thought of what he would look like and feel when Itachi got done.

After the genjutsu ended, Kisame nearly passed out but luckily, he could still stand. "So, how does it look Kisame?" Itachi asked making Kisame figure that he had let him be conscious enough to stand in the first place.

"P-perfect." Kisame said before falling to his side, fortunately on the bed. He didn't wake up until a week later in which Itachi was sitting at the desk, working on another puzzle. He slowly sat up, his body aching. He looked at the desk and as soon as he saw the puzzle, he was stricken with fear.

"Hello kis—" Itachi didn't finish his sentence for Kisame had left the room. Itachi was impressed, even in his state; he could run just as fast as before. He laughed cynically.


End file.
